👨🏼‍💼Daniel Levy - Chairman | Page 15 | Vital Football

👨🏼‍💼Daniel Levy - Chairman

Sometimes you have to step back to see the context and understanding how we've done and why we just didn't manage to do better;

In the last 5/6 years this was what this group of players did through this period;

Got to a CL final
two league cup finals + a semi-final
2 FA Cup semi-finals
2 title challenges

In every case, we lost to the team that won the PL title. In every case, it's arguable that the manager got our tactics wrong or simply had no plan 'b'.

It's not 'just' about having or not having as some would have it, a 'winners' mentality, it's not just about not having the best PL manager, the difference can also be that the total Spend of the clubs that have won the PL during this period is over £1 BILLION more than we spent in the last 10 years.

Like it or not a minimum of £1 Billion difference makes for a huge difference to in-depth squad quality.

So is it any wonder that when you have an investor (old Joe) who is a billionaire who won't or can't spend his wealth buying their way to the top that we haven't yet closed that chasm of spending which like it or not can almost be a guarantee of silverware.

Of course, Leicester in what was a particularly poor PL year did the unthinkable and has become the club that proves the exception to the rule.

Levy's answer was to build a multi-functional stadium that could help exponentially grow revenues of which as owners they've still not taken a penny in dividends and reinvested all the profits back into the club.

In that same period, a number of clubs have tried to buy their way to success without building from the ground up and some still languish in the lower leagues and some dropped only eventually managing to claw their way back after the horrendous drama's that the old owners put them through.

Last of all, it's not just about having a chairman who can't pump the odd billion in.

So after a season to forget, I'm angry at Levy for being taken in by a much-sacked charlatan, of all people he should have seen beyond the hype. His legacy as he once described it was to leave Spurs with a seat at the games elite table, the stadium was of course the haywagon that was going to get us there.

What he must now do is realise that he has to split the responsibilities in the business so that we can give some hope to the dream that covid and his desperation to win something hasn't set us back 3-4 years.
 
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Is anyone else as worried as I am that Daniel Levy still has his head placed firmly up his backside when it comes to footballing operations and his abilities within that sphere?
 
Sometimes you have to step back to see the context and understanding how we've done and why we just didn't manage to do better;

In the last 5/6 years this was what this group of players did through this period;

Got to a CL final
two league cup finals + a semi-final
2 FA Cup semi-finals
2 title challenges

In every case, we lost to the team that won the PL title. In every case, it's arguable that the manager got our tactics wrong or simply had no plan 'b'.

It's not 'just' about having or not having as some would have it, a 'winners' mentality, it's not just about not having the best PL manager, the difference can also be that the total Spend of the clubs that have won the PL during this period is over £1 BILLION more than we spent in the last 10 years.

Like it or not a minimum of £1 Billion difference makes for a huge difference in-depth and quality.

So is it any wonder that when you have an investor (old Joe) who is a billionaire who won't or can't spend his wealth buying their way to the top that we haven't yet closed that chasm of spending which like it or not can almost be a guarantee of silverware.

Of course, Leicester in what was a particularly poor PL year did the unthinkable and has become the club that proves the exception to the rule.

Levy's answer was to build a multi-functional stadium that could help exponentially grow revenues of which as owners they've still not taken a penny in dividends and reinvested all the profits back into the club.

In that same period, a number of clubs have tried to buy their way to success without building from the ground up and some still languish in the lower leagues and some dropped only eventually managing to claw their way back after the horrendous drama's that the old owners put them through.

Last of all, it's not just about having a chairman who can't pump the odd billion in.

So after a season to forget, I'm angry at Levy for being taken in by a much-sacked charlatan, of all people he should have seen beyond the hype. His legacy as he once described it was to leave Spurs with a seat at the games elite table, the stadium was of course the haywagon that was going to get us there.

What he must now do is realise that he has to split the responsibilities in the business so that we can give some hope to the dream that covid and his desperation to win something hasn't set us back 3-4 years.
Excellent post.
 
Is it? Or is a perspective of lost opportunities a more constructive base to work from?

I posted in the expectation I would be torn down; can you give everyone what your view of recent years is as a counter-balance, did I get it that far wrong?
 
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You both have extremely valid points. Unfortunately neither of you have a crystal ball or a time machine to prove the other wrong. Half full/half empty.

I for one appreciate what has been done over the last decade. It frustrates me that we havent had our just rewards for doing it 'right'. But thats how it goes.
 
You both have extremely valid points. Unfortunately neither of you have a crystal ball or a time machine to prove the other wrong. Half full/half empty.

I for one appreciate what has been done over the last decade. It frustrates me that we havent had our just rewards for doing it 'right'. But thats how it goes.


You're right Hobo so in order to settle it we will take the relative final standings in the Predictor League. Oh look....I am right again.
 
I posted in the expectation I would be torn down; can you give everyone what your view of recent years is as a counter-balance, did I get it that far wrong?


If we'd won the CL, which we should have and no one will ever be able to talk me out of that point of view, we would have broken the stigma that is attached to this club, well a least beaten it over the head and injured it severely.

The conversations we are having now, the sponsorships, the players' attitude would all be different. It was well within our grasp.

That was THE illustration of PJ's assertion that Pochettino is a terrible game day/big game manager. He failed us at that critical point when against all odds we were in the final.

But then again, we had the squad at its prime. So if you take that into account, it wasn't against all odds and Pochettino just flat out naffed up and failed the club when it counted.

That is not down to Levy. He put us into that incredible position. But Levy, at the same time this was happening didn't make the transition he needed to make to keep us competing at that level. Some will argue it was all about lack of player acquisition, but that should have already been in place, we never should have floundered like we have if the right people were involved in moving the club forward, as in the right management team.

Along with the stadium he should have been building, or much more wisely had someone else building, the football operations side of things. This is where he has majorly naffed up.

If he had as much foresight on the DoFO side of things as he did on the stadium we would be top 4 every year and challenging at every level already. We would be a destination club, not a stepping stone.

If we continue with this management structure we will be overtaken on the pitch by smarter more focussed clubs with better management. We can generate all the money in the world, but if we don't have the right people deploying it we might as well pile it up in the car park and take a match to it.
 
If we'd won the CL, which we should have and no one will ever be able to talk me out of that point of view, we would have broken the stigma that is attached to this club, well a least beaten it over the head and injured it severely.

The conversations we are having now, the sponsorships, the players' attitude would all be different. It was well within our grasp.

That was THE illustration of PJ's assertion that Pochettino is a terrible game day/big game manager. He failed us at that critical point when against all odds we were in the final.

But then again, we had the squad at its prime. So if you take that into account, it wasn't against all odds and Pochettino just flat out naffed up and failed the club when it counted.

That is not down to Levy. He put us into that incredible position. But Levy, at the same time this was happening didn't make the transition he needed to make to keep us competing at that level. Some will argue it was all about lack of player acquisition, but that should have already been in place, we never should have floundered like we have if the right people were involved in moving the club forward, as in the right management team.

Along with the stadium he should have been building, or much more wisely had someone else building, the football operations side of things. This is where he has majorly naffed up.

If he had as much foresight on the DoFO side of things as he did on the stadium we would be top 4 every year and challenging at every level already. We would be a destination club, not a stepping stone.

If we continue with this management structure we will be overtaken on the pitch by smarter more focussed clubs with better management. We can generate all the money in the world, but if we don't have the right people deploying it we might as well pile it up in the car park and take a match to it.
Why should we have won the CL final?

Poch's preparation was poor, no denying that. And picking Kane was also a weak decision.

But we were playing a team, Liverpool, who finished the season 26 points ahead of us. They were by far a better team. We were very fortunate that they too played shite that night.

But by far the most important factor in our defeat was Sissoko's ludicrous conceding of that penalty in the first minute. In the build up to the final all the talk was how the penalty was going to be interpreted differently to include an outstretched hand. And what does he go and do?

There was nothing Poch or any other manager could have done about that other than not pick him. More than anything that's what cost us the final.
 
Why should we have won the CL final?

Poch's preparation was poor, no denying that. And picking Kane was also a weak decision.

But we were playing a team, Liverpool, who finished the season 26 points ahead of us. They were by far a better team. We were very fortunate that they too played shite that night.

But by far the most important factor in our defeat was Sissoko's ludicrous conceding of that penalty in the first minute. In the build up to the final all the talk was how the penalty was going to be interpreted differently to include an outstretched hand. And what does he go and do?

There was nothing Poch or any other manager could have done about that other than not pick him. More than anything that's what cost us the final.


And the rest of the post?
 
Why should we have won the CL final?

Poch's preparation was poor, no denying that. And picking Kane was also a weak decision.

But we were playing a team, Liverpool, who finished the season 26 points ahead of us. They were by far a better team. We were very fortunate that they too played shite that night.

But by far the most important factor in our defeat was Sissoko's ludicrous conceding of that penalty in the first minute. In the build up to the final all the talk was how the penalty was going to be interpreted differently to include an outstretched hand. And what does he go and do?

There was nothing Poch or any other manager could have done about that other than not pick him. More than anything that's what cost us the final.

The perception that May 2019 was our pinnacle is what bugs me the most. It was May 2017 when we finished on 86 points, the same tally City have just won this year's league. It was down hill all the way from there and I still pinch myself that we got through the quarter and semi-finals of the CL in 2019. The footballing gods definitely had their agenda that year. Poor Pep !!!

Great players don't play like lions on a Weds night and like sheep on a Sat afternoon. They cross the white line every game and give their all. That's all I hope for this coming season. (and Levy stepping away from football ops!!!)
 
The perception that May 2019 was our pinnacle is what bugs me the most. It was May 2017 when we finished on 86 points, the same tally City have just won this year's league. It was down hill all the way from there and I still pinch myself that we got through the quarter and semi-finals of the CL in 2019. The footballing gods definitely had their agenda that year. Poor Pep !!!

Great players don't play like lions on a Weds night and like sheep on a Sat afternoon. They cross the white line every game and give their all. That's all I hope for this coming season. (and Levy stepping away from football ops!!!)
I bugs me so much when people forget how (relatively) poor we were in the 18/19 season. The incredibly Champions League run really papered over the many visible cracks
 
I bugs me so much when people forget how (relatively) poor we were in the 18/19 season. The incredibly Champions League run really papered over the many visible cracks


Yes, but it's a funny old game. But it was much more fun watching us play in the 86 point season.

However, there was a feeling of destiny in the season we made the CL. And as Gary will eventually agree with, Pochettino blew it.